A lot of the team's recent bullpen failures can be summed up in Brendan Donnelly's first pitch - David Ortiz lunged at it with a mghty violent swing, and missed. Donnelly had tthrown him a changeup which arrived in the exact location of where Otiz' bat had been, but 12 miles an hour slower than he expected.
In the 8th, Shields' first pitch goes over the green monster.
The league is adjusting to our pen. Our pen now needs to adjust to the league. This is no longer Percy and the Anonymous Angels, three innings only - Donnelly and Frankie have won Setupmen of the Year awards and Shields is in the national media's All Star Mix.
Mixing in Jake Woods as a LOOGY (Lefty, One Out GuY) might help break up what is obviously becoming the league's most scrutinezed commodity: the tendencies of Halo Relievers and Scioscia's use-pattern of these arms.